Of Coffee Shops and Conspiring Cousins
by AnnabethGinevraJacksonPotter
Summary: "She's trying to set us up!" she blurted. "What!" Taking a deep breath, she repeated, "Thalia. Thalia is trying to set us up." / or when Annabeth works at Starbucks and starts to suspect Thalia when Percy shows up everyday to order coffee for his cousin. Percabeth Coffee Shop!AU


When Annabeth Chase turned 16, her mother contacted her and asked her to move to New York. Annabeth readily agreed. Leaving her father and step family behind would be amazing. After finishing high school with all honors, Annabeth applied and got into Cornell University in New York City. She managed to get a scholarship, but it didn't cover her tuition completely, so Annabeth had to take a job. She found one at Starbucks. And in this very Starbucks, our story begins.

* * *

Annabeth pushed open the car door and got out. She looked around to see a light frost coating the trees and sidewalks. She sighed as she locked the door to her car and went inside to clock in for her shift. In her opinion, there was no point in getting up so early on a Sunday morning. Business would be slow until at least 9:30. Waking up for an 8 AM shift just to sit and do her homework was completely unreasonable. Unfortunately, this was the only way to pay off her college debt without mooching off of her mother. So, Annabeth put on a fake smile, strode through the door, and transformed into her jumpy self that she saved only for early morning shifts.

The door chimed and Annabeth looked up to see Piper McLean, her co-worker and close friend, walk through the door. Piper set down her bag and washed her hands, getting ready for the first customer. The bell rand once again signaling the arrival of Ms. Georgia Roberts, a 34-year old regular who went for a run every morning and dropped by for her coffee right afterwards.

"The usual, Ms. Roberts?"

"Yes Piper. Thank you."

"Okay. One Caramel Frappuccino, hold the whip cream, extra caramel coming right up."

Annabeth busied herself making Ms. Roberts' drink. By this point, it had become a pattern. She danced around, readying the frap. She rang it up and handed the drink to Ms. Roberts who tipped her and walked out.

Annabeth sat back down, pulling out her blueprints. Though she hadn't reached a level where she could start designing in her studies, Annabeth had been working on this one design for a few years. She was almost finished with it. Once she completed it, her plan was to show her mother and see if it could be brought to life. This one blueprint was Annabeth's pride and joy. If anyone dared to touch it, they were doomed. She guarded it with all that she had and didn't let a single soul look at it.

Just as she pulled out her pencil to start drawing, a crowd of teenage girls came in. Annabeth groaned and packed away the rest of her stuff. She knew what was coming next. Ever since the Pumpkin Spice Latte came back in season, a gaggle of girls would be in, ordering the same thing every day. They'd flip their hair, squeal, and ask for the "Pumpkin Spice Latte, Please!" in a shrill voice that made Annabeth want to gouge her eardrums out.*

Annabeth took a deep breath and became a machine, Pumpkin Spice Latte after Pumpkin Spice Latte. No whip, extra cinnamon, cut the cinnamon, extra whip. Annabeth would make the lattes and Piper would ring them up. This went on for about 20 minutes. Once the girls left, both baristas slumped and let out sighs of relief.

"Thank God that's over. Hey, why don't you go ahead and get some of your work done? I can manage for a while. I'll take my break after you today," Piper offered.

Annabeth quickly agreed and thanked her friend. She walked out from behind the counter and went to take a seat at one of the tables. She put her headphones in and turned up her music. She had always found it easier to focus and get work done with music.

Annabeth started to sketch out the finishing touches to her drawing. Her mother was the founder of a huge architecture firm and she had told Annabeth that if she did well enough in her studies, she may just be offered a job at said firm. On this basis, Annabeth worked her ass off. Every spare moment would be spent sketching and designing. It had gotten so bad to the point that her friends started to notice the dark circles under her eyes. Annabeth dismissed them as nothing, but regardless of what she said, they were worried. So worried to the point that they decided she needed a distraction. One that came in the form of a young man, and a handsome one at that.

Thalia Grace, Annabeth's best friend, was the cousin of Percy Jackson, swimmer and Oceanography major at Cornell. He would be the perfect match for Annabeth. She was uptight, he was relaxed. She was careful, he didn't care. She was logical, he was gullible.

Now, it wasn't as if Annabeth was oblivious to Thalia's planning. No, she was quite aware of it and quite sick of it. She knew that Thalia was trying to set her up with someone, though she wasn't too sure of who. She was pretty sure it would be Thalia's cousin, Percy. Annabeth had met him once before and Thalia had went on for days about their compatibility.

Too deep in to her work to be bothered, Annabeth missed the chime of the door as another customer walked in. If she had been paying attention, she would've realized that this particular customer was very, very good looking. He had messy, untamable, windswept black hair, and enticing sea green eyes. Oh, and she would've also noticed that he looked remarkably like Percy Jackson. Shocker.

Piper recognized Percy as he walked through the door and decided that it would be a convenient time to take her break. She walked to Annabeth and tapped her on the shoulder, letting her know that the latter's break was over and she was to man the counter. Annabeth nodded and packed her blueprints away.

Annabeth stepped behind the counter and looked up to see the one and only Percy Jackson. She internally cursed and vowed to get revenge on Thalia.

"Hey, I'm Annabeth. What can I get you today?" Annabeth asked, completely ignoring the jumpy feeling in her chest as he smiled at her.

"Hey. Um… I'll just take a hot chocolate, an Iced White Chocolate Mocha, a Cinnamon Dolce Latte, and… a red velvet cake pop."

"Seems like a lot for one person, if you ask me," joked Annabeth.

Percy laughed uncomfortably and waited for his order. There was no one else in the shop, so Annabeth took her time.

"No, seriously. I hope you aren't going to consume that all on your own. That much caffeine is highly dangerous for your body," Annabeth stated as she rang up the order.

Percy laughed again, this time with more ease, and responded, "Don't worry, I'm actually here for my cousin. Only the cake pop is mine.

Annabeth chuckled and handed Percy his order and sent him off. Business had been very slow. Oh, well. There's always tomorrow.

* * *

Annabeth opened up again the next day. She went through the normal routine of Ms. Roberts and the Pumpkin- addicted teenage girls. Comparatively, the amount of customers was considerably larger than the previous day.

Of course, to Annabeth, only one customer really mattered. Percy Jackson had shown up once again, ordering three drinks and claiming his cousin had sent him. Annabeth dismissed it, thinking Thalia would get over it soon enough. She just needed some entertainment, so messing with Annabeth's love life, or lack of thereof, would be sufficient for now. It would probably last a few days, or maybe a week at most.

 **LINE BREAK**

It had been a week since Percy first dropped by, and he'd been coming back every day, ordering the same thing for his cousin. Annabeth still wasn't sure what to make from it. She didn't see anything suspicious in his behavior. For all she knew, Percy could be an innocent bystander, roped into Thalia's plan. Anything was possible. While processing his information, Annabeth made small talk with Percy, work, school, the weather. Nothing big. She was sure that this phase of Thalia's would pass and she could go back to worrying about her blueprints and homework.

 **LINE BREAK**

Apparently, Annabeth thought wrong. Thalia was determined to get the two together. Every day for the past two months, Percy had been coming in, ordering drinks for his cousin. And each day, Annabeth learned something new about him. He was majoring in oceanography and loved anything that had to do with the sea. His father went out at sea and never made it back. His mother had married an abusive man and they suffered 5 years of torture before his mother finally divorced him. Sally, his mother, had just married a man by the name of Paul Blofis, Percy's old English teacher. Percy loved blue anything, especially Sally's blue cookies. And so on…

One time, even Sally had tagged along, saying that her niece was staying over and wanted coffee, but was too lazy to get it herself.

By this point, Annabeth had had enough. She knew what was happening and decided to fix it. The next time Percy came in, Annabeth tried to keep cool and figure out a way to tell him properly. Unfortunately, sometimes, Annabeth's mouth liked to speak without consulting her brain.

"She's trying to set us up!" she blurted, then covered her mouth.

"What?"

Taking a deep breath, Annabeth said again, "Thalia. Thalia is trying to set us up."

"Thalia? Like my cousin Thalia?" Annabeth nodded. "How do you know her?" Percy asked.

"She's my best friend. Do you not remember me from Jason's party last year? She tried to introduce and get us together even then."

"Oh… that was you? Right, well. Um… okay then."

"Yeah."

"Wait, she's trying to set us up?"

"If I haven't already made that clear, yes," Annabeth replied, exasperated. "You know, you're a bit dense. It's as if your brain is made of seaweed."

"Yeah, and you're a bit of a… um… ooh! You're a Wise Girl."

"Seriously? Is that the best you've got?"

"Yeah. I'm not really the thinker in any group."

"I see that. Anyway, here's your order. I'll see you next time, if Thalia doesn't give up on us."

Percy opened his mouth as if to say something, but decided against it and walked off.

 **LINE BREAK**

As another long day at Starbucks rolled on, Annabeth found herself anticipating Percy's visit. She had slowly started to fall for him, whether she knew it or not. Each time the door chimed, she would look, hoping it would be Percy, and each time, she would be disappointed to see that it wasn't him.

So, just as she was about to clock out of her shift, the door chimed once again and Annabeth looked up to find Percy.

"So, I guess Thalia didn't give up on us, huh?"

Percy nodded uneasily and asked for his regular. Two coffees, one hot chocolate, and one cake pop.

Just as Annabeth handed him his order and started to leave, Percy stopped her.

"Hey, Annabeth, what if I told you that Thalia hasn't sent me here for the past month? What if I told you that I had my mom lie?" He looked her in the eye and pulled her closer. He shifted and whispered in her ear, "What if I told you that I came here every day just to see you?"

He then swiftly moved closer to her and kissed her. Annabeth closed her eyes and lost herself in him. Wherever she turned, all she could see were his swirling, sea green eyes. When they finally broke apart, Annabeth said, "Well, what if I told you that I'm in love with you?" and swiftly walked out the door, leaving a gaping Percy and a laughing Piper.

 **I apologize if the ending wasn't satisfactory. Happy Thanksgiving to all. I know that I'm thankful for all of your support.**

 **Love you,**

 **-AGJP**


End file.
